


StormPilot Suite: Day 6 - Sostenuto

by whorl



Series: StormPilot Suite [8]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Stormpilot - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 05:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6598450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whorl/pseuds/whorl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn and Poe Dameron get to know each other. Perhaps a little romance may blossom, if they are given enough time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Possibilities

**Author's Note:**

> Poe Dameron, Finn, myriad other Star Wars characters, and small sections of dialogue from "The Force Awakens" that appear in this story are all the property of Disney/Lucasfilm. No copyright infringement intended. Please don't sue me, I have no money.

The rain had stopped falling overnight. Finn wasn’t surprised to see Poe’s bed empty when he awoke. He sighed, remembering Poe’s comforting embrace the night before. Finn wondered if he’d imagined the whole thing. He shook his head and tried to clear his mind of everything but the upcoming campaign.

As he stepped outside the tent, he thought he could hear—music? Whatever it was, it was very faint. Finn briefly wondered if he was going crazy, if the stress of the imminent battle had finally pushed him over the edge. The breeze shifted slightly, and Finn became certain that there was music coming from somewhere. He walked out of the campsite to investigate, heading further away from the base, toward the sound.  
  
Finn was astonished to discover the source of the music. In a small glen, under a flowering tree fed by a natural spring, sat Poe, who was playing some kind of wooden instrument. It was like a scene out of one of those storybooks he’d read. For a moment, Finn wondered if he might still be asleep, dreaming. Poe looked equally startled to see his friend, and abruptly stopped playing. “Finn! What—what are you doing here?”  
  
“Don’t stop, that was great.” Poe made no move to begin playing again, so Finn sat down on the grass next to him. “That was amazing. I didn’t know you played the, uh—” Finn was at a loss. He had no idea what instrument was called.  
  
“It’s a reed flute. It was my mother’s—she taught me how to play.” Poe smiled at the delicate instrument, remembering his mother. “I think she picked it up when she was flying with the Rebel Alliance. I haven’t seen this style outside the Endor system.”  
  
“What were you playing?” Finn wanted to hear more. He’d rarely had the chance to hear any music. He hoped he could convince Poe to start playing again.  
  
“It’s a song of, um—” Poe fiddled with the flute. “Of remembrance. And farewell. Before every mission I find a spot, alone, somewhere, and play it. Just in case—” He shook his head and tapped the flute gently. “Just in case I never get a chance to play again.” Poe laughed, suddenly. “Once, we were stationed on this tiny ice planet. Even during the day, with the suns, it was damn cold outside.” He grinned at his friend. “I played a much shorter version of the song when I was there.”  
  
Finn looked up. He didn’t want to interrupt Poe’s solitary ritual, but for some reason he felt almost desperate to hear more of the music. “Do you want me to go?” He tried to keep his voice neutral, as though he didn’t care one way or the other. _Please don’t say ‘yes.’ Please don’t send me away._  
  
Poe didn’t know what he wanted. _No, that’s not true. I just want the impossible._ He wanted the conflict to be over. He wanted to run away with the man sitting in front of him, take him somewhere in the galaxy that hadn't been poisoned by evil. He wanted to show him all the beauty and grace in the world, to help Finn forget the horrors he’d witnessed. And maybe, in time, his own nightmares might begin to fade away as well.

As Poe sat there, saying nothing, just **looking** at him with an unreadable expression, it occurred to Finn that his friend might be too polite to flat-out tell him to go away and leave him alone. “Oh, uh, right.” He stood up awkwardly.  
  
Poe realized, with a start, that Finn had taken his momentary silence as a request to leave. He grabbed Finn’s hand and gave it a tug. “No, stay. Please.” Finn looked back at him, uncertainty in his eyes. “Stay. I want you—to stay.” _Forever_.  
  
“Thanks.” Finn sat back down. He didn’t want to make it seem like he was watching Poe play, so instead he gazed at the horizon and let his eyes unfocus as he listened.  
  
Poe started with something different. A light, cheery tune. Airy and uncomplicated, like something people could dance to. But after a few minutes, the music changed as he transitioned back to the song he’d been playing earlier. Finn had never heard anything like it before. It was haunting, beautiful, and achingly sad. Finn shivered, goosebumps rising on his arms as the music went on. He wished it would never end.  
  
Poe finished the piece. The last note hung in the air, and Finn felt his chest tighten. He couldn’t push away a growing feeling of panic, of running out of time. He didn’t know what to do, what he could do. He was desperate to do something—anything—but he was frozen in place.

Finn felt helpless, paralyzed. He turned and saw Poe gazing at him with an expression that matched his own. Their eyes locked, and for an instant they both understood. A dream, shared. Endless possibilities. Happiness—joy—love. Peace. The stillness of the moment insulated them, protected them, slowing each second into an eternity. For a stolen moment, they were the only two people in the universe, each waiting for the other to move.  
  
A bird flew overhead, its call shrill and mournful, shattering the silence. The spell broke and both men quickly looked away from each other. Poe cleared his throat. “We’d better get back. Gotta be in the air, soon.” The two men began walking back to the campsite, neither sure of what to say. Both wanted to acknowledge what had almost just happened. Neither did.

At the campsite, both busied themselves with minor tasks, working in silence. As Poe finished stowing his few possessions within his foot locker, he paused briefly, staring at the case that held his flute. He couldn’t let them part ways like this. Not yet. He slammed the lid of the locker, which abruptly got Finn’s attention. “Hey, Finn? Thanks for coming to sit with me this morning. Listening to the song. I probably shouldn’t jinx myself, but it feels better knowing that someone else has heard it, in case my number’s up today.” He sat on the closed lid of the locker. “If anything **does** happen—” Finn looked like he was going to protest, but Poe plowed on. “If anything happens today, you take the flute, okay? I’d feel better, knowing that someone who cares has it.”

Finn was touched. “I’d be honored, Poe.” He didn’t want to think about the possibility of his friend dying, so he tried to make it into a joke. “But you’ve gotta come back. For one, I haven’t learned how to play any songs yet! Plus, I’m relying on you to keep saving my butt when I accidentally mess stuff up. And I’ve only just achieved minor competency in ship repair. I’m expecting further lessons.” He mustered up a weak smile.

“Good point.” Poe chuckled. “And honestly, I kinda want to see what sort of trouble you can get up to on some other planets. Lots of adventures ahead, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Finn tried to will himself to be positive, but he was still worried. “Hey, you’ve got a lot of people up there, right? Watching your back as you’re going for the oscillator?”

“We’re a good team. Flown a lot of missions together.” Poe expected that if by some miracle they managed to win that day, he’d return with no more than a quarter of his crew, but he knew that it would be a mistake to tell Finn that. “I’ve been on more than a hundred of these things so far, and I always manage to come back alive.” He paused, biting his lip. “Though, I don’t think we’ve gone after a whole planet, yet.” He smiled. “It’s good to change things up. Keeps us sharp.”

It had grown late. Poe gave Finn a small nod, and both began walking slowly to the base. Before they reached the main entryway, Poe stopped and turned to Finn. “Well, we might not see each other again before this thing is finished, so—” He stretched his arms wide, and was nearly knocked over by the force of Finn’s hug. He could feel the younger man trembling, and searched for something to say that might comfort him. “Hey, don’t worry, Solo and Chewbacca will keep an eye on you. And you guys will find Rey. Hell, she’ll probably steal Kylo Ren’s personal ship and make her grand escape before you can even get to her.” Poe was glad that he got a chuckle out of Finn with that.

Finn wished that he could tell his friend that he wasn’t worried for himself, exactly. He was more concerned about Poe’s safety—leading the squadrons in his black X-wing, he was the first target the enemies would aim for. He was terrified that he would never get the chance to see Poe again, to tell him how much he meant to Finn. He had a crazy wish to take Poe’s hand and drag him off—somewhere, anywhere they might both be safe. But Finn knew that they could never be safe, not if they didn’t strike at the First Order today.

As they stood together, Poe was acutely aware of Finn’s heart hammering in double time against his own chest.

He spoke firmly, trying to keep his tone encouraging. “Stay safe out there, okay? Don’t do anything crazy. Just get those shields down and get out of there. We’ll take care of the rest.” He pulled away, holding Finn briefly by the shoulders. “I believe in you.”

“Thanks, Poe.” Finn’s mouth was so dry he could barely get the words out. He couldn’t speak the words his heart wanted to say. “Good luck up there. See you for dinner, yeah?”

“You bet.” Poe grinned at him.

“Poe!” Someone shouted in the distance, and Poe turned. As though in slow motion, Finn watched Poe walk away from him until he was lost in the crowd of orange jumpsuits. Poe was gone, and suddenly Finn felt very alone.


	2. After today

Finn was still in a bit of a daze as he entered the briefing room, but his focus sharpened quickly as he listened to the final instructions from General Organa. He spent a few minutes with Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the lead tactician to confirm the landing location and the point of entry to the base. Finn was briefly thankful for his Stormtrooper training—it let him to fall into step with the others, to follow orders, to rely on the detailed plans. His training wouldn’t allow him the luxury of worrying about the consequences of failure.

Once the meeting broke up, Solo told him to load up the crates still sitting outside the Falcon. Task in mind, Finn nearly missed Poe striding up to him, leading a crew of pilots in bright orange jumpsuits. Poe gave him a quick, tight nod, and grabbed his shoulder roughly as he passed by. For a moment their eyes met, but there was no time to pause, nothing they could say. Poe continued on, calling out to the crew members on the far side of the airfield. Finn turned to watch him walk away. He wished he could run after him, but he knew he didn’t have the words to articulate what was going on in his mind or his heart. If only Poe would turn around and look back at him, he might have the courage. He might find the words. But soon Poe disappeared behind a ship, and Finn pushed all thoughts but the mission out of his mind once again.

Just outside the Falcon, Finn cracked open the top of a weapons crate and quickly began piling an assortment of heavy, metallic spheres inside. He didn’t notice as Solo walked up behind him.  
  
“Hey, be careful with those—they're explosives.”  
  
“ **Now** you tell me?” Finn had figured that he was packing up mines, but at Solo’s statement he slowed his pace. He didn’t know how stable they were—or weren’t.

Finn watched as Solo shared a few quiet words with General Organa. He hadn't asked Poe about their relationship—it was clear that they were close, but he didn’t want to pry into their history. In their embrace, he saw the comfort of familiarity, but also a terrible, shared sadness.

After Organa walked away, Solo paused for a moment before boarding his ship, taking in the bustle of activity in the airfield. He shook his head sadly and muttered, “Poor bastards.” He suddenly felt very old.  
  
Finn looked up from the box, noting Solo’s faraway expression. “What?”  
  
Solo didn't look away from the pilots. “Nothing.” He pointed at the mines. “Just remember to not drop those.”  
  
But Finn wouldn’t be put off so easily. “What did you mean, Solo? What’s the matter?” The moment the words were out, Finn wished he could take them back. _Idiot. We’re about to go up against the First Order. ‘What’s the matter’—who says that?_  
  
Solo turned back to face Finn. “Well, Big Deal, you might have forgotten, but in about an hour we’re going to attack a planet. A planet that blows up other planets.”  
  
“Yeah.” Finn nodded, chagrined.  
  
“This isn’t going to be a walk on Naboo. Even if we win—and, let’s face it, we probably won’t—a lot of good people are going to die today, and there’s not a whole lot we can do about it.” Solo walked over and leaned up against the side of the weapons crate, crossing his arms. “ **If** we can make it down to the surface and **if** you can implement your grand plan for deactivating the shields—” He nodded emphatically towards the Resistance pilots “— **they’re** still the ones on the front lines trying to take out the oscillator, facing the cannons and TIE fighters.” He shook his head. “It’s just like when we tried this the first time, when I was your age. It never ends.”  
  
Finn’s voice was quiet, uncertain. “But, you destroyed the Death Star. You won.”  
  
“Yeah, we won.” Solo laughed bitterly. “You know, there weren’t so many of us back in those days. They sent out thirty pilots. Crazy. The Empire had just destroyed Alderaan, killed millions of people—” He snapped his fingers “—just like that. And we had thirty men to take down the Empire's superweapon. You know how many came back to celebrate our victory?” He shot a pointed look at Finn. “Three.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly with one hand. “Three, plus Chewie and me on the Falcon. So take a good look at all your new friends out there because, chances are, you aren't going to see them again after today.”  
  
Finn stared back at Solo, unsure how to respond. “That’s—”  
  
“—war.” Solo’s tone was resigned. Neither said anything more for a moment, then Chewbacca called from the ship’s hold. At that, Solo seemed to come back to himself. “Sorry, kid. Forget what I said.” He tried to smile encouragingly at the younger man. “Don’t worry about it. First things first—I’ll try to get us down to the planet in one piece. Then we can worry about what happens next.” He slapped the side of the crate before walking back towards the Falcon. “Hurry up with those, we haven’t got all day.” Solo strode up the gangplank, his voice echoing from inside the ship. “And don’t drop them!”  
  
Finn stared at the Falcon for a moment, unmoving, Solo’s story echoing in his ears. His mind was screaming at him, insisting that he run—run to Poe, to tell him something, anything. To let him know that he might love him, crazy as that sounded. They were almost out of time. Finn had to do something, but he was still paralyzed, motionless.

The piercing sound of an X-wing taking off from the airfield suddenly spurred him into action. At impossible speed, he loaded up the remaining mines and secured the crates, stowing them safely in a freight locker onboard the Falcon. Before he could lose his nerve, he started down the gangplank and shouted back into the ship. “Mines are secured on board—I’ll be back in five minutes!”  
  
He didn’t understand Chewbacca’s muffled shout, so he kept going. “Back in five!” He sprinted toward the X-wing hangar. He only hoped that he wasn’t already too late.


	3. Love always wins

Many ships had already departed. The dust swirling around the airfield made it difficult to see, but Finn ran on, full speed. As he turned the corner, he spotted the distinctive black paint of Poe’s X-wing. The engines were on, but the hatch of the cockpit was still open. “Poe! Poe!” He doubted if the pilot could hear him over the noise in the hangar, but he kept shouting as he drew nearer.  
  
Poe turned around, a concerned look on his face. “Finn, what is it?” He hopped down from the cockpit. “What’s wrong? Why aren't you on the Falcon?”

“I couldn’t let you—I had to—” Finn doubled over for a moment, winded.

Poe stood, arms crossed, looking worriedly at his friend, but he waited for him to catch his breath.

Finn took a deep breath and began speaking rapidly, unsure if he was doing the right thing or making a horrible mistake. “Poe, I have just had the craziest week of my life. And I have no idea if this is how this is supposed to go, but I don’t care. I like you—a lot. And I don’t have a lot—or any, really—experience with this, but I, uh—” He saw Poe’s eyes widening in surprise, but continued in a rush. “Um, I think I might love you. Or, uh, be **in love**. With you. This morning? In the field? I had this crazy dream about us running off together. And I don’t want both of us to go off to whatever happens next without—” Here, Finn stumbled, finishing lamely. “—um, without giving you something?” Poe was staring at him, open-mouthed in astonishment, but Finn wasn’t going to be deterred. Finn screwed up his last bit of courage, closed his eyes, and planted a kiss squarely on Poe’s cheek. He squinted one eye open, not sure what to expect in response.

“Are you serious?” Poe was laughing, but not unkindly.

“What?” Finn wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong.

“After that gorgeous, heartfelt speech? Was that supposed to be the big, heroic, send-off kiss?” At Finn’s hesitant nod, Poe stepped in, closing the space between them. “Well, I’ll grant you, that was very brave, but—” He bit his lip, with a wicked glint in his eyes. “I had something a little different in mind.”

For a moment, they stood without touching, Poe gazing intently into Finn’s eyes, as though he were memorizing something hidden in them. Slowly, Poe lifted his hand to Finn’s face, gently tracing his thumb along his cheekbone, taking a moment to caress the back of his neck. Finn leaned into Poe’s touch, his eyes closing, and suddenly Poe’s mouth was on his. It was gentler than he’d expected, warm, and full of promise. As the kiss deepened, Finn felt Poe’s hand at the small of his back, pulling him closer. Finn wrapped his arms around Poe, as though he was hanging on for dear life. It was over far too soon. Foreheads barely touching, eyes closed, neither moved for a time, lingering in the moment. Poe leaned forward again, briefly brushing his lips across Finn’s before stepping back and breaking contact.

Poe’s voice was husky when he spoke. “I guess he was right. Love always wins.” He looked earnestly at Finn. “Was that more what you were expecting? From your book? That floating-energy feeling?”

“Uh huh.” Finn could barely form coherent thoughts, much less words.

Poe stepped forward again, and Finn was half expecting another kiss, but the pilot simply embraced the former Stormtrooper, closing his eyes as he savored the feeling of holding the man he loved. Poe murmured quietly, his voice barely audible above the noise of the airfield. “Right now, even with this battle about to begin, I feel like the luckiest person in the whole galaxy. I don’t know what made me fall for you first—your courage, your compassion, or the fact that you’re devastatingly handsome.” With his last words, Poe’s voice dropped seductively, and he could feel Finn shiver in his arms. “I haven’t said this to many people, Finn, so believe me when I tell you that I am **madly** in love with you.”

Finn could hardly believe what had happened—what he was hearing. His stomach was doing somersaults and he thought his heart might burst with happiness. _Poe loves me. Despite what I was_ — _no, **because** of **who** I am._ Finn felt like he might never stop smiling. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he stepped back abruptly. “Wait, why didn’t you say anything all this time? I’ve been dying the last few days, here!”

Poe laughed. “I had to let you figure yourself out! You went from zero to wild declarations of love in, like, three days!” He smiled kindly. “Seriously, I didn’t want to overwhelm you. I figured that if, by some miracle, we had a shot, I had to let you come to it at your own pace. I didn’t want to ruin our chances.”

Finn nodded. “I’m glad I finally did something before we both left.” He mentally thanked Solo for his unintentionally inspirational speech.

“Me too.” Poe’s grin lit up his features, and the light in his eyes danced merrily. “Seems like we both have a **very** compelling reason to see the other side of this battle. We have a lot to talk about when we get back from this. We have so much to do.” He grabbed Finn’s hand tightly with both of his own. “Don’t you do anything stupid down on that planet. You come back to me alive. Promise?”

Finn nodded. “Promise.” He felt his knees go a little weak as Poe pressed a kiss into his palm, never breaking eye contact, before dropping his hand and backing towards his X-wing.

Poe began to climb the ladder back up to his cockpit. “Go on, get back before they think I’ve kidnapped you.”

Finn regular voice finally returned to him. “And you be safe up there, flying that thing!”

“I’m never safe!” Poe shouted merrily as he climbed back into the cockpit. “But I’ll sure as hell be careful.” Poe stood in his cockpit, watching as Finn ran back towards the Falcon, stopping just before he was out of sight to wave a final time. Impetuously, Poe blew him a kiss, then as Finn disappeared around the corner, he sank back down into his seat and allowed himself a moment to revel in his happiness. BB-8 was chattering excitedly at him, and he responded with a laugh. “Yes, I’m glad you like him too, buddy.” Radio chatter from the other X-wing pilots intruded into his reverie, and Poe quickly focused back to the task at hand. But a small portion of his mind was still buzzing with excitement.

He’d always believed in the fight. Knew that the war they waged was important, knew that each victory would help ensure that evil wouldn’t prevail. But for the first time he could remember, Poe had a damned good reason to make sure he made it out alive. He had someone to believe in. And someone to fly back home to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Gentle Reader! Kudos to *you* for making it through an interminable slog of words! Or for cheating, and just skipping to the end. Whichever.
> 
> I want to tell you the story of the story. So, bail out now, if this isn’t your thing.
> 
> This series came into being rather by accident.
> 
> On a cold day in mid-January, I was sitting at brunch at a little restaurant near Columbus Circle in NYC discussing the musical Hamilton and the obvious romance in the latest Star Wars movie (Poe/Finn, of course) with a couple of my friends, as you do. They made a brief comment about a great little story based on the song “Best of Wives and Best of Women” from Hamilton, but featuring a scene between Poe and Finn. Naturally, I had to check it out (it is this gem of a story: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5653819) and was so inspired by the idea, that I had to write my own take on it (which is here, and totally unrelated to the story to which this note is attached...probably: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6598666). 
> 
> Anyway, I got to thinking about other Hamilton songs that would fit the same pairing, and was instantly struck by “Meet Me Inside.” I envisioned Poe arguing with General Organa, it almost seemed TOO easy with some of the lyrics (e.g. “Watch your tone / I am not a maiden in need of defending / I am grown!”) but then I wondered, what on earth would they be fighting about in a way that naturally fit with the story that already exists in TFA? As much as I am a fan of AU stories, I personally find it very difficult to change what has already been set down in the canon when I am writing a story (I leave others to do that, and enjoy their works immensely!)
> 
> Undeterred, I decided that the story might still work, but if Poe had done something (perhaps not being a second in an authorized duel, exactly, but on that same line) to anger General Organa, and Finn was going to be involved somehow (because he has to be, naturally), Poe and Finn needed to get to know each other better. The two had great chemistry in the movie, but truthfully were only together for, at most, about an hour based on the movie timeline. So I figured I’d toss together a couple of scenes of Poe and Finn getting to know each other better, so there’d be more there between the two men to lead up to some sort of background for the as-yet unidentified inflammatory incident and the inevitable musical showdown with the General. 
> 
> As you can see from that last sentence, I had no clue how to make the song fit the story. But, like Finn, I thought the Force would sort it all out somehow. I just needed a little backstory for Poe and Finn to make it all gel.
> 
> So I just started writing. I was surprised to find the story needed a whole lot more space to tell than I had originally thought. These two kept surprising me—I would plan for them to say or do or think one thing, and then it was suddenly half a page later and they had done something totally different. But it seemed to work, so I just let them do their thing. 
> 
> I admit I went a little crazy. The story that was meant to be 1000 words, maybe 2000 tops, and just be a little fluffy intro to the “real” song-based story was rapidly spiraling away from me. But I couldn’t just stop—Poe and Finn had more to do! So I kept writing. I ended up taking a few breaks here and there, partially because I was starting to forget what the sun looked like and also because I kept getting sad right along with the dynamic duo as their stories unfolded. But then I’d be at work or in the grocery store, and I’d be struck by an idea of something that one of them would say, and I’d have to start writing again.
> 
> So anyway, here it is, a cool fourteen times bigger than originally planned. This hasn’t done anything to set up a believable Poe/Finn–General Organa interaction that will work with “Meet me inside” in any sort of logical way in my mind, but such is life. Maybe that will happen someday! I am taking a break for a bit so I can actually go read a whole bunch of amazing stories here, but I’m tempted to write a little story later on that takes place immediately after the action finishes up in TFA, with Finn in the infirmary and Poe returning with the survivors of the attack on Starkiller base...we’ll see what happens!
> 
> Thanks again for reading, and as always, comments, questions, suggestions, recipes—whatever!—all feedback is welcome.


End file.
